Michigan Vamp

My Old License Plate

Eccentric Night Owl

Quote from Blood Read

"An ambiguously coded figure, a source of both erotic anxiety and corrupt desire, the literary vampire is one of the most powerful archetypes bequeathed to us from the imagination of the nineteenth century."~ page 2 introduction to Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture

Intellectual Vampire Quote

"If the vampire is an other, he or she was always a figure in whom one could find one's self...the despicable as well as the defiant, the shameful as well as the unashamed, the loathing of oddness as well as pride in it."~ Richard Dyer

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Monday, February 17, 2014

I can thank the downsizing trend for becoming an author.
When I knew my middle management job was at risk I also knew I wasn’t happy
enough with what I did to keep doing it at another place. So I took an
apptitude test that revealed why my job was so unfulling. It seems I am a
creative type and middle management is about maintaining the status quo. This
works, do more of it. That doesn’t work, fix of eliminate it. While life
certainly needs this kind of management, I could only do so much for it. I
crave the ups and downs of the creative process and while I developed a number
of useful skills in management, I really opened up when I began to writing. The
outcome was the sale of a book ultimately called HOMECOMING to Harlequin. I
truly became a writer then, grateful I’d found my calling. I’ll write my fingers
off until they come to pry my hard, cold hands off the computer keyboard
because this is how I want to spend my life.

Do you write in different genres?

Several. I started out at Harlequin, writing a classic
romance. With them, I broadened my scope into romantic adventure and romantic
comedy. When I moved to Penquin I entered the paranormal romance market and
when I chose to become an indie author I branched out into romantic suspense
and cozy mysteries.

If yes which is your favorite genre to write?

The darker paranormal stories really dig deep and require
a lot of energy—mental, emotional and
physical. The romantic suspense and lighter mysteries give my mind a badly
needed break that lets me take my full energy back to the bigger books.

How did you come up with the title for your latest
book?

One of my critique partners and I stayed over after our
group broke for the morning and we brainstormed the title for my new romantic
suspense. The book has several large themes to draw from —amnesia, spousal abuse,
patricide, legalized gambling—and as we knocked ideas around I talked about how
the glamour of the floating casinos and the huge paddlewheel riverboats that
housed them had always enchanted me. The talk drifted to Kenny Roger’s song,
“The Gambler,” and we went through the famous lines of the chorus: Know when to
hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and . . .

At that point, my friend and I locked eyes. We both knew
we had the title and we said it aloud together. KNOW WHEN TO RUN was christened
and now it’s about to be launched.

Is there a message in your novel that you want
readers to grasp?

I caution new writers about starting a book with a
message in mind because the temptation to preach is too strong. My exact words
are, “If you have a message don’t let your characters know what it is.” However
(isn’t there always a ‘however?’) every time I finish a book I later notice
that it does have a theme, usually something that relates to the happenings in
my own life at the time. I suspect this is true for lots or writers. In
retrospect I feel this kind of organic theme actually strengthens a book
because it lets in the power of the writer’s personal journey. So, I guess my
answer is both no and yes but I still stand behind my advice to avoid consciously
incorporating a theme.

What books/authors have influenced your life?

The first book to absolutely sweep me away was GONE WITH
THE WIND, and it inspired me to love stories with sweeping settings and larger
than life characters and stakes so high they left me breathless. Nowadays I look to George R.R. Martin, J.K.
Rowlings and Suzanne Collins for that kind of high tension and stakes. The
Hunger Games does it so well that I frequently have tears in my eyes even in
quiet scenes because the backstory and its threats just simmer on the page.

What is your current “work in progress” or upcoming projects?

FIRST WE KILL ALL THE ZOMBIES, a Derek Shriver mystery. A
few years back I was invited to write a mystery for a Christmas-themed
anthology. I’m actually known for the
delight I take in tormenting my characters.But at Christmastime? I just
couldn’t write anything so grim as a bloody murder. So my entry into cozy mystery writing was
born, along with a character I fell in love with. Derek Shriver is an ex-Green
Beret, a practicing CPA and an amusement park owner. He loves his partner’s
wife from afar and knows it can never be. But when a dead elf is found in
Santa’s workshop, Derek’s life changes and the events that come after that lead
him directly to his meeting with the zombies.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Derek is now married to his ex-partner’s ex-wife and they
are honeymooning at a nineteen-twenties themed amusement park that he wants to
buy. Suddenly what they thought would be a testimony of their love becomes a
kidnapping by an evil scientist who wants to use the unique talents of Derek
and his wife for his own twisted ends.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Let your readers be your guide . . . First make sure it’s
clear, then make it beautiful . . . Don’t be intimidated by better writers; let
them inspire you . . . Stay connected to your story; when you stop for the day
make notes of what happened and what’s coming up . . . Keep adjectives and
adverbs to a minium (except when you’re writing blurbs and synopses) . . .

And now I need someone to stop me, I could go on so, please
somebody, stop me.

It’s time I thanked Roxanne for having me as her interview
guest and all of you for dropping in.

She woke up one morning on a Mississippi riverboat casino with a huge headache and no clue to who she was.

With the help of new friends she rebuilt her life. Now, nearly two years later, a tall dark man with killer good looks comes after her. A bounty hunter, who claims she killed her father then ran out on her bail. She says he's got the wrong woman. He says she's guilty as sin. One of them is right . . .

Suddenly so many people are after her, she can't tell the good guys from the bad guys. But one thing she can do is KNOW WHEN TO RUN.

EXCERPT

The shooter has disappeared.
Ky and Gabe have made it to shore and are waiting for the crew to come
rescue them.

She could see the Belle's staff rushing up and down the
boarding ramp preparing a rescue cart. Behind the rescue team, paced Rosie,
hands flying everywhere as she gave directions. Hoping to relieve her friend's
worry, Ky waved.

"Maybe you shouldn't draw attention to yourself,"
commented McGregor. "The shooter could be hiding among the crew."

Good advice, and another
reason to think he was a cop. He remained in the water and took off one boot,
then the other. They were lizard skin, and judging from his pained expression
as he poured out muddy water like from a pitcher, they were the real deal.

"Lost
my hat," he said, morosely. "My daughter gave it to me when she was a
first grader."

She wanted to take petty satisfaction in his misery, but the
river had cost him, too. Although she'd bet a rack of poker chips that he
looked a whole lot better sans hat and boots than she looked without her
cosmetics.

The sunset glowed behind him, softening the harsh lines on
his face. Without the Stetson, he looked less formidable. Almost as if he might
truly be on her side.

Finished emptying the boots, he tossed them on the shore and
walked over to Ky. He stopped within arm's reach, dug into his jacket pocket,
then extended his hand. "These yours?"

He held her pushup pads. Both of them.

She'd only noticed losing one.

Her gaze dropped to the V of her blouse, which was no longer
filled out by the pads, and now hung open to reveal her water-puckered nipples.
She flushed, tugged the blouse together. "Let those things go. They're
ruined anyway."

He grinned wickedly. "And pollute the mighty
Mississippi? No can do."

Though at her expense, his humor was infectious. And very
needed after they'd been shot at and half-drowned. She felt lighter, giddy
even. She smiled despite herself.

"And, Red," he added with a broad, theatrical
wink, "I must add that you've never looked more natural."

This time Ky laughed outright. She stripped off her
remaining eyelash extensions and placed them on top of the foam lumps in
McGregor's large hand. "If I must look natural, I'm going all the way. And
you're in charge of carrying out the trash."

McGregor stared wide-eyed at the mess in his hand. "You
want me to slay this beastie? Oh, no. Oh, no."

She laughed again, absorbed in the moment.

As if in blessing, the sun fell to the horizon in a last
blaze of orange, red and yellow. She closed her eyes against the brightness,
let the rays warm her chilled body.

This time Ky laughed outright. She stripped off her
remaining eyelash extensions and placed them on top of the foam lumps in
McGregor's large hand. "If I must look natural, I'm going all the way. And
you're in charge of carrying out the trash."

McGregor stared wide-eyed at the mess in his hand. "You
want me to slay this beastie? Oh, no. Oh, no."

She laughed again, absorbed in the moment.

As if in blessing, the sun fell to the horizon in a last
blaze of orange, red and yellow. She closed her eyes against the brightness,
let the rays warm her chilled body.

Light. Warmth. Laughter. Well-being. Ky sensed these had
been missing from her life for a long time.

She'd have to let go of this moment soon, have to deal with
a past that might be scarier than she'd ever dreamed, but not now. . . . Not
now.

She took in a deep breath, holding on for a little longer.

"Kathleen Templeton?"

The name was spoken in a hushed voice — McGregor's voice.

Ky opened her eyes to find him staring at her. He wasn't
smiling anymore.

Suddenly, neither was she.

About the Author:

Award-winning, bestselling author Connie Flynn writes both long and short fiction and is published in multiple genres, including paranormal romance, romantic comedy, mystery and suspense and contemporary fantasy/sci-fi. She lives in Arizona on a lush green park where she walks her dog and escapes from the hot desert sun. Her latest release is the twists-and-turns romantic suspense, KNOW WHEN TO RUN.

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